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“There are two guards out back, and two out front,” North Pyongan reported as he and his sister quietly crept up the stairs to the loft in the vacant house. “We'll check again in an hour.”
North Hamgyong narrowed his eyes at the pair as they took up spots by the door, South Pyongan using a toe to nudge the body of the unconscious man they had smuggled in here early this morning.
In the four months since he and his sister had joined up with Korea, he hadn’t warmed up to either of the Pyongans. The female was loud and abrasive, and the male- while capable of keeping his mouth shut- still rattled on about god too much. At least he was more tolerable than the glasses-wearing bastard that had been left outside the city with Kangwon.
“Alright!” North Chungcheong grinned, clapping South Hamgyong on the shoulder. “Now we wait.”
North Hamgyong glared at him. As much as South Pyongan got on his nerves, the newest arrival was much worse. Ever since he had tracked them down in the mountains outside Gwangju, he had been ingratiating himself with South Hamgyong and the others with his irritating smiles and overly-friendly demeanour.
“I’ve gotta say, I’ve only ever stolen grain and supplies for people,” North Chungcheong continued. “This’ll be the first time I’m stealing a person.”
South Pyongan grinned. “You’ll get used to it.”
“We’re not stealing them,” Korea muttered, eyes focused intently on the thin line of daylight that came from behind the ragged cloth that covered the window. “We’re freeing them.”
“Even better.” North Chungcheong nudged South Hamgyong. “Hey cuz, you can probably sit down. It’ll be awhile before nighttime.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said, still glued to the window.
The idiot didn’t even notice how his ‘cuz’s’ smile was tight at the edges, her eyes just as intent as Korea’s as she watched the squat building across the street. North Chungcheong had no way of knowing why South Hamgyong was taking this rescue mission so personally, but North Hamgyong begrudged his obliviousness anyways.
Motivated by his irritation, he asked Korea, “And what if the women don’t want to be saved?”
The country snapped his head towards him, but South Hamgyong beat him to the punch.
“And why wouldn’t they?” she asked sharply.
“Because they have no skills, no family, and no money,” he told her bluntly. “They won’t be able to build a life outside.”
Her lips flattened, her anger unwarranted considering he was just repeating what she had told him over and over.
“What really matters is that they have no chance,” South Hamgyong said heatedly. “We’ll give them one.”
“Yeah, don’t be such a pessimist,” North Chungcheong cut in, completely missing the current of personal tension that was running between the two Hamgyongs.
North Hamgyong glowered at him.
“The goal isn’t rescuing all of them, anyways,” Korea said, albeit grudgingly. “Only the province. But if any of them want to leave, we’ll give them some of the money we have and send them on their way.”
“It would be better if we kept the money,” North Hamgyong grumbled. They didn’t exactly have the funds to throw at random women. “They’re just going to end up back in the same place when it runs out.”
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Chasing Liberty // Countryhumans North Korea fanfiction
FanfictionThe Koreas were victims of Japanese Imperialism for thirty-six years, deprived of freedom in their own country. With the defeat of the Japanese Empire after the second World War, you would think that their problems would be solved. But things rarel...